Moses Job Interview with God
6And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. (Exodus 4:6-7, KJV)
Now the focus of God’s demonstration turns inward – into Moses’ character. The supernatural transformation of his hands pointed to a future when the supernatural would flow through Moses’ hands. The leprosy shows that the works that would flow through his hand and the authority he would bear literally carry a grave responsibility. In the bible, leprosy often symbolized sin. As a disease, leprosy meant exile from the rest of society. Similarly, sin serves to separate us from God. I think God was warning Moses about the dangers of acting and working on his own. The tucking of his hand into his bosom told Moses to pay particular attention to the issues of the heart.
20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:20-23, KJV)
Guard your heart or suffer the consequences.
God repeats the command. He tells Moses to put his diseased hand back into his bosom. He does so and his hand is restored. God is telling Moses that listening to God’s voice will result in his protection while enabling the work of your hands to succeed. Note also that had Moses not followed God’s direction, his associates may have been calling him “Lefty.” Partial obedience is total disobedience. Moses is rising to a new level with God and to Israel. The importance of relying on God cannot be overestimated.
So it is with us. Sometimes in the course of listening and obeying God, he will take us where we do not want to go. We must rely on God to bring us through. If we do so, he will restore us and will work through us to do what we could not do on our own. We must take the works of our hands, the issues of our hearts, and our reliance on God with utmost seriousness. If we do so, God will work signs and wonders through our very own hands.
Tags: Career, Exodus 4:6-7, Proverbs 4:20-23